Plibersek says PM embarrassing

Labor's slammed Prime Minister Tony Abbott as embarrassing but his office has denied he's cancelled meetings with the world's top finance officials during his visit to the United States.

A spokeswoman says Mr Abbott's scheduled to meet US treasury secretary Jack Lew and Janet Yellen, chair of the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve.

It follows a report from political columnist Laurie Oakes yesterday that Mr Abbott had cancelled long-planned meetings with Mr Lew, International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde and World Bank president Jim Yong Kim.

Deputy opposition leader Tanya Plibersek has labelled Mr Abbott an embarrassment, and has questioned how he could be cancelling meetings with top economic officials just a few months before Australia hosts world leaders for the November G20 summit.